Facebook post claims four people ‘killed’ Congress councillor

Posting was made in the account of Sangam Malhotra, who was shot dead in 2014. Sangam was the brother of gangster Bobby Malhotra, a close aide of Jaggu Bhagwanpuria

punjabUpdated: Jun 05, 2018 19:34 IST

Anil Sharma

Hindustan Times, Amritsar

Representational Image(HT File )

Three days after Congress councillor Pehlwan Gurdeep Singh was shot dead by three unidentified men at a wrestling arena in the Gol Bagh area of the city, a Facebook post named four persons who ‘killed’ him. The post, however, was later on amended by deleting the names.

The names, which were mentioned in the post, were Arun Churrimar, Karan Masti, Rinka and Angrej. They are, however, among those who have already been booked by the police. Others booked by name are Sonu Mota, a bookie of Amritsar, gangsters Jaggu Bhagwanpuria and Bobby Malhotra, and Sonu Kangla, who is a drug peddler. Jaggu, Bobby and Kangla are in different jails of Punjab. They might have hatched the killing of Gurdeep in jails.

The Facebook status, however, was posted from the account of Sangam Malhotra, who was shot dead in 2014 and whose body was found in the Gujjarpura area here. Sangam is the brother of gangster Bobby Malhotra, who is in the Bathinda jail. The post was tagged with six more Facebook accounts—two named after Bobby Malhotra, one each after Jaggu Bhagwanpuria, Saraj Sandhu and Bro Sangam Malhtora. Saraj Sandhu is one of the accused in the killing of the Hindu leader.

The post reads: “Sat Sri Akal (used as a greeting) to all brothers. There has been uproar that Gurdeep Pehlwan’s murder was ransom killing, but it is not true. Those who are considering Gurdeep Pehlwan as their leader should have glimpse about his background. He (Gurdeep) was a gangster. In 2014, our younger brother Sangam Malhotra was murdered and Gurdeep had been taking the responsibility that he got Sangam killed. Gurdeep was not booked by police as he had political support, but he was a gangster. Hariya and Ginda, who were killed by us were also gangsters and they had support of Gurdeep. We had then taken a pledge to kill all those who killed Sangam and who had taken responsibility for his murder.”

The post further said: “Today, we have completed our revenge. Gurdeep was killed by our brothers, Arun Churrimar, Karan Masti, Rinka and Angrej”. These lines, however, were deleted after a few hours.

Deputy commissioner of police (DCP-city) Amrik Singh said they were not aware of the Facebook post. He said, “As Sangam Malhotra is already dead, the post could be fake, but we are investigating the matter from different angles. All such Facebook accounts, though they are faked, will also be monitored closely by our IT cell. The case will be cracked very soon.”

No arrest so far

The DCP said till now they have not arrested any of the accused. Earlier, on Monday, the DCP had said they would take Jaggu Bhagwanpuria and Bobby Malhotra on remand after the Operation Bluestar anniversary on June 6. Both the gangsters are among the eight accused booked by the police on the complaint of the the deceased’s family.

Not the first case of posting

This is not the first case in Punjab when gangsters have taken the responsibility of crime on social media. In April, gangster Dilpreet Singh Dhahan had claimed responsibility for firing on famous Punjabi singer Parmish Verma. In August 2017, Manminder Singh alias Mindhi, brother of slain gangster Rupinder Gandhi, was shot dead outside his residence in Rasoolra village of Khanna and a rival gangster Gurjot Garcha posted a Facebook status claiming that he and his accomplice, Harwinder alias Rindha Sandhu, were behind the killing. In November, 2017, gangster Saraj Singh Sandhu, alias Mintoo, had ‘confessed’ to killing Hindu Sangharsh Sena leader Vipan Sharma in a Facebook post.

‘Killers escaped due police negligence’

President of the Parjpat community, Raghubir Singh, on Tuesday said the killers had escaped due to the negligence of police. Raghubir said, on June 2, when three armed men murdered Gurdeep, by opening 17 rounds, various nakas of police were there only at a distance of about 200 to 300 feet from the spot. “It is a matter of shame for the police that killers managed to escape easily,” he said.